The Seven Hour War
by Undead Raptor
Summary: The war of Half Life fame told from a literary perspective. Please review! Please, I am poor.


**There are many events from films and games that I've wanted to do fanfictions of. The Fall of Reach, the Dalek Invasion of Earth, the Battle of Washington DC or the events of 2012. But of them all there is one I have always wanted to do above any other. The Seven Hour War. And here it is. Please enjoy!**

_It took 10,000 years for Humanity to invent the wheel. To harness the power of fire, of oil, of electricity and the atom. Ten thousand years. And it took just seven hours for it to all be taken away. This is the story of that day._

"Jamie, you got any good news for me?" asked Lieutenant William. Jamie glanced over at him before his attention returned to the computer screen in front of him. The electrical storms were still continuing all over the world.  
>"We've got the same storms all over the country. From North Scotland all the way down to St Ives" answered Gwen, her Welsh accent easily noticeable. She bent over to study Jamie's computer screen, which was showing live satellite imagery of the United Kingdom, all of which was hidden under a single gargantuan black cloud. This one cloud covered every inch of the world. It was the biggest storm in history and it was showing no signs of stopping. William clicked his tongue impatiently, receiving a look from Gwen.<br>"So not a single bit of blue or green anywhere in the world?" asked William and Jamie shook his head.  
>"Well that's just great. My daughter was 'sposed to have her sports day today you know" said William.<br>"Will, with as much respect as I can possibly give I couldn't care less about your daughter's sports day" said Gwen, who was still watching the computer screen. William rolled his eyes before turning towards his own computer monitor. But he swung round again as Jamie shouted to him.  
>"Will, I'm detecting a massive electric spike!" he yelled. William and Gwen gathered around his computer as a sensor went haywire, blurting out a siren and flashing red.<br>"There's a huge electrical disturbance nearby, it's huge!" said Jamie, his eyes fixed on the screen.  
>"Nearby? How nearby?" asked Gwen. Jamie responded with several clicks on his computer before answering her.<br>"Westminster!" he said. William turned on his heels and headed for the door. Gwen looked towards him as he walked.  
>"Oi, where do you think you're going?" she asked. William looked at her as he put on his brown coat. He smiled at her.<br>"I quite fancy going to see this myself. Wanna come with, or would you rather hang out with the computer boy?" asked William. Gwen sighed and followed him. William grinned and yanked open the door, to be greeted with an onslaught of rain that lashed down from the depressingly grey sky. You could never guess it was a July afternoon. William looked up at the clouds before running to the car, unlocking it and jumping in, soaking the seats. Gwen ran after him, covering her head from the rain as best as she could while running for the car. Jamie followed behind her. Once the two of them had got in with William, he started the engine and the car headed towards Westminster. As they drove all Jamie could do was check the news on his iPhone to see if anything had changed but it hadn't. Or so he thought. As the car approached Central London, the clouds suddenly parted and great beams of light shone out from the gaps, bathing London in heavenly light. The soaked city finally seemed alive again. William let out a laugh as he watched the sun emerge from the clouds. Gwen turned to look at Jamie, who was still looking at his iPhone. He looked up at her.  
>"Same thing everywhere. Weather's clearing up everywhere" he said, and William's face fell.<br>"The exact same thing happening in every part of the world. That can't be a coincidence" he said. Gwen nodded slowly but Jamie just rolled his eyes, unwilling to believe that there was more to this than met the eye, as William always said. Sure, in their time at the Welfield Institute they had dealt with aliens before. The Resonance Cascade in New Mexico several years ago was one of them. And also their biggest failure. But surely there was little going on? As Jamie considered this, he found it ironic that despite him being the least concerned he was still checking for updates on what was going on over and over again. Funny, he thought. If only he knew what was coming.

The car finally stopped at Nelson's Column, where the roads were beginning to get packed with cars and people going about their day to day business, not seeming to care much that the weather had improved. The three Welfield agents left the car and walked towards Nelson's Column. William climbed up and leaned against one of the bronze lions. He watched Big Ben at the opposite side of the long street, admiring the view. Gwen sat down next to the lion and Jamie did the same.  
>"So what do you think was causing the storm?" asked Gwen.<br>"No idea. Hope to find out soon" answered William. Gwen pulled herself up onto the base of the monument where William was standing.  
>"Why do you care so much about it anyway?" asked Gwen. William frowned.<br>"You know me. Anything strange, anything unusual, I relish in it. It's our job to investigate stuff like that. It's like being in Torchwood. Even more so since you're called Gwen" said William. Gwen smiled and looked at Big Ben in the distance. William looked down at Jamie who was looking up at them.  
>"Don't you have as much interest in this as me Jamie boy?" asked William. Jamie shrugged.<br>"Will" said Gwen, trembling a little.  
>"Yeah?" replied William but he grew concerned quickly as he saw Gwen's attitude. She seemed scared, which wasn't like her at all. She was staring at something, wide eyed and white faced. William looked to where she was looking and instantly froze. His heart beat ten times a second. Directly above the Houses of Parliament, a massive orange portal, identical to the ones they'd seen at Black Mesa was taking shape. Cars everywhere were screeching to a halt and the occupants getting out without taking their eyes off the giant portal that was growing in shape over Parliament. Hundreds of people began to crowd the streets the watch the scene unfold and the three Welfield agents were in complete silence as they stared at the massive portal that filled half the sky. There was screaming as people ran from the area in panic, and the sounds of smashing windows could be heard as people began to break into shops. Even the red coated guards of Buckingham Palace were now standing in the street staring.<p>

Three police cars raced past, dodging the abandoned cars as people on the streets scattered to make way for them. But then it happened. From the portal emerged a single Combine Dropship emerged above Big Ben, looking like a giant green crab clutching onto a big black box on its belly and made a ghostly humming noise as it flew. As people began to run, William stood to full height and stared in horror as literally HUNDREDS more Dropships emerged from the single portal, creating a massive fleet that dwarfed any Human Air Force ever seen. With them were hundreds of Gunships, flying low over the city and going in every direction. Then as William looked to the sky a second huge fleet of dropships and gunships flew overhead from a second portal that had formed somewhere else in the city. William looked over to Big Ben and saw a Gunship approach it. He took a step back, shaking his head in horror. But then the gunship fired a long blue laser that struck the base of Big Ben, creating a huge explosion that consumed the entire bottom level of Big Ben in a huge fireball. Massive chunks flew in all directions before the gunship fired again, this time at the clock. The entire thing exploded, sending chunks of the clocks everywhere as the bells rang one last time before falling from the tower. Just seconds later, the entire tower of Big Ben slowly toppled over before smashing down onto Parliament below in a massive cloud of dust.

It was chaos. The three agents ran for their lives as the hundreds of people on the streets did the same. The hundreds of gunships were bearing down on the city and lasers and pulse cannons fired in every direction as explosions rose up everywhere. The Ugandan Embassy took a direct hit from one laser and exploded into a massive fireball, with pieces of debris smashing into cars. As the agents ran for cover, the ground began to shake violently before a massive green Tentacle rose up from beneath the road, having just been teleported in. Its huge sharp head rose up still covered in dirt and asphalt from the hole it had made in the road. A car swerved to try and avoid it but the Tentacle grabbed it in its huge appendages that hung from the undersides of the sharp head and held the car high before throwing it across the street into a building where it smashed violently through the wall. Jamie ran towards a nearby Waterstones but a single pulse cannon blast to the road near him sent him flying right through the window. He felt a long cut being torn in his arm as he smashed through and lay on the floor covered in shards of glass.

More explosions went off all around outside as the alien armarda bore down on London, decimating everything in sight. The whole city was already on fire after just a minute, it was like the Blitz all over again. William and Gwen climbed in through the broken window and helped the injured Jamie up before all three of them were knocked to the ground by a strong rumbling. The wall exploded, showering them in masonry as another laser hit nearby. They turned their backs towards the outside as they took cover in the corner of the room but William turned his head to see Nelson's Column crumble right in front of him before the famous statue at the top hit the ground, smashing into pieces. Fire was everywhere and thick black smoke covered the entire area. Dead bodies were everywhere and every building was damaged in some way. Cars lay smashed and wrecked, some upside down, some on fire, all of them destroyed. William turned his head away from the devastation as the gunships continued to fire, not letting up. Still the ground shook as destruction rained down on the city. Jamie looked at his iPhone and saw that it had lost connection. He threw the phone to the side, not caring about it anymore. The three of them huddled together to take cover from the onslaught but were suddenly thrown halfway across the room as the ground shook so violently it was like an earthquake. William slowly got to his feet and looked outside. His mouth fell open in shock. A Boeing 747 airliner had been shot down and was now lying on its side in the street, pouring fire and crushing who knows how many people. He turned away and put his arms around the other two, hugging them. He tried to hold back the tears.

Current Length of War: 5 Minutes

Current Death Toll: 1,570,503,455 and rising


End file.
